Silent as the Grave
by PirateAngel1286
Summary: Oneshot during COTBP It's the things that aren't said which show how you really feel. Everyone is holding back their truths because if they don't then everything will fall apart. Willabeth


Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

This is a challenge response given on HtR from the wonderful Cucumbucaneer (otherwise known as Bea/Nonexistant) Okay so it's a little angsty but we all know everything turns out alright in the end. This would basically take place right after the three of them exit the cave and before Jack is about to hang. Enjoy.

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The trip back to Port Royal was extremely long and with the company that he had, Will Turner felt as though he might end up going insane sooner. Stuck in a cell with the insane Jack Sparrow was not his idea of a good time.

"Jack, would you shut your bloody trap PLEASE!"

The man in question had been singing the pirate song that Elizabeth had taught him over and over and over again.

"Well sorry but I want to go out on a happy note, whelp," Jack snapped back. He wasn't taking his impending death very well.

It was getting late and Will was getting exhausted. He felt as though he hadn't slept in days. Oh wait; he really hadn't slept had he. Bloody hell. Suddenly he could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. As quick as lighting, Will and Jack both pretended to be fast asleep.

Hearing a sob, Will carefully opened one eye to see Elizabeth standing before their cell. "Elizabeth, what're you doing down here? You know you're not supposed to be here," Will said trying not to look her in the eye.

She quietly moaned as she placed her hands against the bars that separated them. "Will I've spoken to my Father and he says that he'll think about granting you clemency. Isn't that wonderful," she said as a tear fell down her cheek.

Will reached out and wiped it away for her. "That does sound very good," he said back. If she wasn't crying because he was going to hang, then why?

She turned to Jack and sighed. "I'm sorry Jack but they're not budging on your case. The morning after we arrive you face the noose."

"It's alright Love," he said with a nod. They both looked at the man and he placed his hands behind his head, leaned back and tried to get a decent night's sleep. The two young lovers turned back to each other and Will sighed.

"How soon before Commodore Norrington gets us back?"

"Just a few more days. Then I suppose I have to start planning a wedding."

Will sighed and another tear fell down her cheek. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this cell and gave her a big hug and tell her he'd take her away so they could be married and love each other for all of eternity. But her heart belonged to another.

"Elizabeth," he finally said.

She looked up at him and he wrapped his hands around hers which had almost a death grip on the bars.

"I-"

Just say it Will. Tell her you don't want her to marry Norrington. Tell her you love her.

"Elizabeth, where are you? You should be abed by now," her father said.

"I have to go," she said.

Will let go of her and she waited a few seconds as though she wanted to hear him say something before running away.

He sighed as he turned to see a lightly snoring Sparrow with his hat covering his eyes. Will leaned up against the wall and tried to get as comfortable as he could. It was going to be a very long trip back home.

**

* * *

**Silent as the grave. 

She had given him so many chances to say those three little words and instead he believed her to be in love with James. She could see it in Will's eyes, in his very being.

Perhaps on some level but not on the one that James felt for her. If she married him, it would be like marrying her older brother. His love was not reciprocated and she felt sorry for him for that. Perhaps she could learn to love him as a husband but in her heart she always knew she belonged to another.

Will Turner loved her and she had promised her own hand to James Norrington. Her hand but not her heart.

Feeling more tears, Elizabeth tried her hardest not to be heard. She placed her face to the pillow and sobbed the hardest she ever had in her life. She had promised her hand so James would save Will. Now that he was saved she could not be with him.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

Damn society. Damn propriety. Damn James, her Father, Will, everyone.

It was not supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this at all.

**

* * *

**They arrived in Port Royal a few days later. The Governor was first off the ship with Elizabeth following closely behind. She wanted to get one last glimpse of Will before she had to turn her back on him. 

"Elizabeth we really must be getting back to the mansion," her Father said urging her forward.

She just caught a glimpse of him when her Father pulled her along to the cabin. Will's eyes found her own almost immediately and he slightly waved before she disappeared from sight.

Will sighed as he walked onto the dock. Looking at Port Royal, he couldn't help but feel that the island seemed a bit smaller somehow.

Perhaps it was because he had left after seeing the same town everyday for so long. He walked back to the shop only to find it completely empty save for the donkey and some unfinished swords and such.

Going around the back, he saw a note sitting on the table. It was a letter from Mr. Brown stating he was leaving Port Royal and as such leaving the shop under Will's care. Now he was going to be receiving a better wage and held the title of a Master Blacksmith.

Collapsing onto a chair Will tried to take in everything that had changed in his life in the last few weeks. He'd left Port Royal, with a pirate no less, to save the girl he loved. He'd gone to the infamous island of Tortuga and lived to tell the tale. He'd learned much more about sailing a ship and mystical curses than he ever thought was possible. He'd sacrificed himself so that Elizabeth would be safe.

And then when all was said and done he was still miserable. The girl he loved was promised to someone else and a man whom he considered a friend faced the hangman's noose. If only there was something he could do to change the situation for either one of them. Getting Jack away was going to be difficult. It was improbable, yes, but definitely not impossible. And if he was going to free Jack then he knew that the act would negate the clemency he'd received from the Governor.

So what; if he couldn't be with Elizabeth then he didn't want to live. Elizabeth would be with James in a way that he could not.

But he had to leave her with parting words. Something to remember him by.

He'd think of that at a later time. Now he had only a day to figure out just how to free Jack and hope against hope that he'd live to see another day.

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Thanks for reading everyone. 


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